I have been listening to Christmas music since the beginning of October. I have to restrain myself from waiting that long. There is such a variety of styles and songs out there that the month of December just isn't long enough to listen to everything I want to. Don't ask me to pick my favorite song. I have particular arrangements of different songs that are my favorites, such as the Drifters' version of "White Christmas", or Eartha Kitt's "Santa Baby". Then there are the sacred songs..."Silent Night"(In German, of course) and "Joy to the World". I especially love some of the old English carols, like "The Holly and the Ivy", "Jesus Christ the Apple Tree", and "Tomorrow Shall be My Dancing Day". Then there are some German favorites, "Kling Glöckchen, Klingelingeling", or "Leise Rieslet der Schnee".
Today as I was out and about, I was playing Mercy Me's Christmas Sessions CD. They have an arrangement of Longfellow's "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day" that is quite nice. The year that this CD came out, some other Christian artists performed their own version of this song. The lyrics are quite simple:
I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day
Their old familiar carols play,
And wild and sweet the words repeat
Of peace on earth, good will to men.
I thought how, as the day had come,
The belfries of all Christendom
Had rolled along the unbroken song
Of peace on earth, good will to men.
And in despair I bowed my head:
"There is no peace on earth," I said,
"For hate is strong and mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good will to men."
Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
"God is not dead, nor doth he sleep;
The wrong shall fail, the right prevail,
With peace on earth, good will to men."
Till, ringing singing, on its way,
The world revolved from night to day,
A voice, a chime, a chant sublime,
Of peace on earth, good will to men!
The third and fourth stanza are appropriate to the events that have happened in recent days. We have witnessed several ways that hate can mock our ideal of peace on earth. If we focus on these events, we can see the strength of hatred in our world. Yet in the face of these events, we also witness how communities can gather together to support and love each other. The families who were victims of the home explosion on the southside of Indianapolis have received generosity from the entire city. The students of Sandy Hook elementary have been adopted by an entire nation.
The message of the song, "God is not dead, nor doth he sleep" is evident in the response of the nation to these recent tragedies. Many would say that if God weren't dead or asleep, he would never have allowed such horrors to occur. I can only respond by saying that we live in a fallen world, and God does not cause such events to happen, nor does he desire them. However he has given us free will and doesn't control us. He lets us make our own decisions and then we must cope with the consequences.
I believe that God uses such events in our lives, the good and the bad, to help us become the people he intends us to be. He uses our strengths and weaknesses to his glory.
Sunday, December 23, 2012
Friday, December 21, 2012
Christmas Vacation Cooking...Taco Soup
I love Christmas vacation. I love cold weather, and we haven't had any properly cold weather until today, my second day of vacation.
Taco Soup
Yesterday, on my first day of vacation, I helped my mom babysit my little niece. She needed to sew my niece's Christmas dress, and watching an 8-month-old baby is not conducive to sewing. So I went over and watched my niece while she sewed. For lunch, I ate leftover taco soup that my sister made, and it was quite yummy. I asked her how she made it and she told me her "recipe"...originally she used a recipe but now she does it by memory, and innovation each time she cooks it.
Last night, we got our first real snowfall of the season AND it was appropriately cold and windy. (It's about time, because earlier this week we had temperatures in the 50s!) I had an appointment and did a little shopping and so I was out and about in this blustery, cold weather. It put me into the mood for soup. On my way home I thought about the contents of my pantry and realized that I had all of the ingredients to make a version of the taco soup as she explained it to me.
I took my first Christmas vacation nap and then decided to cook the soup when I woke up. I didn't take pictures as I went, but I did take a picture of the final product in a bowl.
So here's the recipe; realize that I made this up as I went along, from my sister's explanation of what she did. Also realize that I cook for myself, so this will yield about 4-5 servings.
Taco Soup
Ingredients:
1/2 lb ground turkey (you could probably use ground beef)
Taco seasoning to taste (I used this homemade version that I found on Pinterest.)
1 can of Campbell's Fiesta Cheese soup
1 tsp of beef boullion dissolved into 1 cup of water (I imagine you could use 1 cup of beef broth)
1 can of diced tomatoes, seasoned for Chili (I used Aldi's brand)
1/2 can of black beans
about 1 cup of frozen corn
about 1/2 cup of frozen bell pepper and onion mix (Kroger has a nice sliced red and green pepper with onion)
- Brown the ground turkey with the taco seasoning.
- Combine the bouillon and water and bring to a boil, adding the cheese soup and mix it so the cheese soup is combined with the bouillon.
- Add the rest of the ingredients, including the cooked turkey, and simmer until the vegetables are cooked.
Serve with your favorite taco accompaniments: cheese, sour cream, tortilla chips, guacamole!
Tuesday, December 18, 2012
Are we really safe?
The last few days have been quite stressful for me as a teacher. Not only have I been preparing myself and my students for the end of the semester (final projects, final exams, etc.), but I have also had to deal with what happened on Friday in Newtown, Connecticut. The entire nation is again in shock at the horror of this latest mass shooting.
As is typical, we are asking all kinds of questions, demanding answers, and wondering how another tragedy like this can be prevented. People from both sides of the gun control debate are offering solutions. Religious leaders blame the lack of faith, the rise of godlessness, and the removal of God from the schools. Politicians and others blame parents, the lack of access to mental health care, and more.
Everyone is demanding an easy answer, and many answers have been proposed from all over the spectrum of those responding.
The thing is, there IS an easy answer, but it isn't the one we want.
How can we prevent tragedies like this from happening again? We can't. That's the easy answer, but as I said, it isn't the one we want.
Because I was raised in the Christian tradition, I believe that our world and our flesh is NOT inherently good, but inherently evil. The New American Standard translation of Psalm 51:5 reads, "Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, And in sin my mother conceived me." Sin (iniquity) is part of our world, part of our nature.
Anyone who has been around young children for any amount of time should know that we have to teach them how to be unselfish, kind, and polite. Children are naturally selfish. They throw tantrums when they don't get what they want. They grab. They hit. They cry. These behaviors are not learned; they come naturally. Sharing, caring for others, and all of the other acceptable behaviors must be taught.
We can pass all the laws we want, we can regulate guns, we can allow teachers to carry concealed weapons, we can do any number of things to make us feel secure, but it won't change human nature. Someone will still find a way to bring about mass tragedy. Many have noted that it is easier to obtain the ingredients for a bomb than it is to get a gun. Locally, a house was blown up, killing 2 people and displacing hundreds of people.
We can point the finger of blame at any number of specific causes, but ultimately the blame rests on human nature. If we don't perpetrate such horrible crimes, we glorify or minimize them. Sensationalizing and glorifying such acts encourages those who seek the attention. Minimizing violence creates a sense of apathy to our fellow men.
Perhaps the problem of minimizing such actions results from the fact that unless we are directly, personally affected by any kind of tragedy, it is easy to move on with our own lives. My daily life isn't directly affected by the shootings, my daily life wasn't affected by Hurricane Katrina or Hurricane Sandy, I don't have a family member who is deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan. Without a direct connection to such tragedies, we can get over it much sooner than those directly affected by it.
I don't feel unsafe in my daily life. I don't worry about whether a crazed gunman will enter my school building. I don't imagine a drunk driver will plow into my vehicle as I drive throughout the city. I don't expect a devastating tornado to reduce my home to smithereens. I'm not guaranteed safety any more than anyone else is. Honestly, I don't think about my safety very often. Perhaps I should. Will worrying about how safe I am make me safer? Not likely. I can just pray for God's protection and trust that his will is done in my life.
As is typical, we are asking all kinds of questions, demanding answers, and wondering how another tragedy like this can be prevented. People from both sides of the gun control debate are offering solutions. Religious leaders blame the lack of faith, the rise of godlessness, and the removal of God from the schools. Politicians and others blame parents, the lack of access to mental health care, and more.
Everyone is demanding an easy answer, and many answers have been proposed from all over the spectrum of those responding.
The thing is, there IS an easy answer, but it isn't the one we want.
How can we prevent tragedies like this from happening again? We can't. That's the easy answer, but as I said, it isn't the one we want.
Because I was raised in the Christian tradition, I believe that our world and our flesh is NOT inherently good, but inherently evil. The New American Standard translation of Psalm 51:5 reads, "Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, And in sin my mother conceived me." Sin (iniquity) is part of our world, part of our nature.
Anyone who has been around young children for any amount of time should know that we have to teach them how to be unselfish, kind, and polite. Children are naturally selfish. They throw tantrums when they don't get what they want. They grab. They hit. They cry. These behaviors are not learned; they come naturally. Sharing, caring for others, and all of the other acceptable behaviors must be taught.
We can pass all the laws we want, we can regulate guns, we can allow teachers to carry concealed weapons, we can do any number of things to make us feel secure, but it won't change human nature. Someone will still find a way to bring about mass tragedy. Many have noted that it is easier to obtain the ingredients for a bomb than it is to get a gun. Locally, a house was blown up, killing 2 people and displacing hundreds of people.
We can point the finger of blame at any number of specific causes, but ultimately the blame rests on human nature. If we don't perpetrate such horrible crimes, we glorify or minimize them. Sensationalizing and glorifying such acts encourages those who seek the attention. Minimizing violence creates a sense of apathy to our fellow men.
Perhaps the problem of minimizing such actions results from the fact that unless we are directly, personally affected by any kind of tragedy, it is easy to move on with our own lives. My daily life isn't directly affected by the shootings, my daily life wasn't affected by Hurricane Katrina or Hurricane Sandy, I don't have a family member who is deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan. Without a direct connection to such tragedies, we can get over it much sooner than those directly affected by it.
I don't feel unsafe in my daily life. I don't worry about whether a crazed gunman will enter my school building. I don't imagine a drunk driver will plow into my vehicle as I drive throughout the city. I don't expect a devastating tornado to reduce my home to smithereens. I'm not guaranteed safety any more than anyone else is. Honestly, I don't think about my safety very often. Perhaps I should. Will worrying about how safe I am make me safer? Not likely. I can just pray for God's protection and trust that his will is done in my life.
Saturday, December 8, 2012
All I Really Needed to Know in Life I Learned On....Pinterest
This summer I got sucked into the internet phenomenon that is Pinterest. This online "pin board" is a way to find and organize web sites that contain information you want or need. You can "follow" other people's pins and then re-pin those pins onto your own boards.
It's really absorbing, as is most of the Internet. One can go through Pinterest pins for hours without noticing the time go by. I have found great recipes, DIY projects, tutorials for fixing things, teaching ideas, and much more in my hours of Pinteresting. I have pinned significantly more web sites and projects than I probably will have the time to ever try, but I have tried several of the things I've pinned with mostly success.
I even started a Pinterest club at my school for our Activity Period Club time. I have over 30 girls who bring in supplies to make treats or other projects they found on Pinterest. We've had all kinds of fun making glitter t-shirts, doing nail art techniques, and of course making yummy treats.
In my months of Pinteresting, I have learned several things.
It's really absorbing, as is most of the Internet. One can go through Pinterest pins for hours without noticing the time go by. I have found great recipes, DIY projects, tutorials for fixing things, teaching ideas, and much more in my hours of Pinteresting. I have pinned significantly more web sites and projects than I probably will have the time to ever try, but I have tried several of the things I've pinned with mostly success.
I even started a Pinterest club at my school for our Activity Period Club time. I have over 30 girls who bring in supplies to make treats or other projects they found on Pinterest. We've had all kinds of fun making glitter t-shirts, doing nail art techniques, and of course making yummy treats.
In my months of Pinteresting, I have learned several things.
- Regular blue Dawn dishwashing soap, hydrogen peroxide, baking soda, and vinegar are miracle products. There isn't anything on the face of this earth that you can't clean or improve with one of these (or a mixture of them). Thank goodness all of these are so inexpensive. I stock up on baking soda, especially. Jillee (One Good Thing by Jillee) is the queen of home cleaning tips with these products. Here she talks about Hydrogen Peroxide Magic.
- People love the flavors of pumpkin pie and s'mores. Even in the middle of July, Pinners were pinning recipes that involved these flavors. I brought in this S'mores Dip to my Pinterest club and the only illustration I can think of to describe the reaction of those girls was that they looked like piranhas around a piece of meat.
- Nail art is cool. Impossible to do on your own (I tried a couple of them), but cool.
- If you can't find a tutorial to DIY something, you can't DIY.
- Reusing and recycling are definitely possible, especially if you have a lot of old t-shirts. There are so many things you can do to "upcycle" or recycle t-shirts beyond cutting them up into rags. Quilts, headbands, tote bags, you name it. Face it, all of us have so many t-shirts that we will never be able to wear them out. Jillee has some links to stuff you can do with old t-shirts to make them useful. This has led to a problem...saving things like old jars, paper towel tubes, plastic containers and more, "just in case" you could find something to do with them.
- You can find a slow cooker version of almost any recipe, even bread. Slow cookers are the miracle appliance in the kitchen, evidently.
I'm sure there are more lessons I could explain, but these are the best. If you haven't been sucked into the internet black hole that is Pinterest, find someone to invite you.
Monday, November 19, 2012
Economics from a non-Economic Person
I don't know much about economics, finances, or anything of the like. I am exceedingly trusting of my credit union that my balance in my accounts is what they say it is. I generally pay all my bills on time, although I forget sometimes. It all eventually works out. I could be more organized on this subject but so far I haven't had any major disasters.
All of the above is a disclaimer that the thoughts I am sharing come only from personal musings on the matter, not any kind of specialized knowledge. I am only sharing what I've been pondering. I am not as informed on this matter as I could be; I haven't read extensively on the subject.
What I do know is that this issue probably is much more complicated than the average American citizen will admit to. Certainly the news outlets are trying to simplify things so that we can choose a side of some kind.
Recently major restaurants, such as Papa John's, have made the news. Papa John's founder has blamed Obama's health care policies for either forcing him to raise prices on pizza, or lay off workers because he can't afford to supply health care for his workers. Other major restaurant chains have also come under fire for deliberately scheduling "full time" workers below 32 hours per week, thus avoiding the requirement to pay for health insurance. And of course Walmart is the evil empire as well for how it treats its employees.
I have Facebook friends who are posting memes, infographics, and the like urging us to boycott these kinds of businesses. According to them, these businesses are horrible for refusing health care to their workers. From store management on up, the rights of the common worker are being ignored. It makes sense.
It seems to be popular these days to portray big corporations as evil. But then I started to think. Next to the federal government, Walmart is one of the largest employers in the US. Think about how many people a single Super Walmart store employs. I would imagine that for every employee we see on the floor of one of these stores, there are at least 10 employees we don't see (those who load and unload the trucks, those who drive and maintain the trucks, and so on.) While Walmart may not offer benefits to all of its workers, it employs millions of Americans. If a Walmart closes in a community, the economic impact would be enormous.
These companies do not ship in workers from outside the community to work in their facilities. They hire local employees, use local services, and donate to local charities. My school benefits once a month from "spirit nights" put on by restaurants, some of them national chains, that provide a percentage of an evening's sales to our school. They sponsor little league teams, high school athletic teams, and much more. The people who work there are a part of the community.
These chains employ local workers. Employee hours are based on sales revenue. Boycotting a business like this doesn't, in the long run, really affect the CEOs or other bigwigs. It affects the individual restaurant and its employees. If a local restaurant closes, local citizens lose their jobs.
This is where my thoughts are hard to express.
If I manage a business like this, let's say I have 25 employees. However, if I want to offer a 40 hour work week to those employees, plus pay for benefits, I may have to cut 5 jobs in order to stay in budget, OR I can offer a 30 hour work week to all 25 of those employees. What's the tradeoff? Which is the better choice? I'm just saying that a decision like this may or may not be related to profits or evil corporate greed.
Businesses, large and small, sometimes overlook the human element in pursuit of profits. Even though I sometimes accuse my students of saying "But what if...?" too much, sometimes in situations like this, you have to ask, "But what if?"
I support local small businesses. I do prefer "mom and pop" restaurants over chain restaurants. I'm also not ashamed to patronize national chains, either, because I know that they contribute to our community and provide jobs.
All of the above is a disclaimer that the thoughts I am sharing come only from personal musings on the matter, not any kind of specialized knowledge. I am only sharing what I've been pondering. I am not as informed on this matter as I could be; I haven't read extensively on the subject.
What I do know is that this issue probably is much more complicated than the average American citizen will admit to. Certainly the news outlets are trying to simplify things so that we can choose a side of some kind.
Recently major restaurants, such as Papa John's, have made the news. Papa John's founder has blamed Obama's health care policies for either forcing him to raise prices on pizza, or lay off workers because he can't afford to supply health care for his workers. Other major restaurant chains have also come under fire for deliberately scheduling "full time" workers below 32 hours per week, thus avoiding the requirement to pay for health insurance. And of course Walmart is the evil empire as well for how it treats its employees.
I have Facebook friends who are posting memes, infographics, and the like urging us to boycott these kinds of businesses. According to them, these businesses are horrible for refusing health care to their workers. From store management on up, the rights of the common worker are being ignored. It makes sense.
It seems to be popular these days to portray big corporations as evil. But then I started to think. Next to the federal government, Walmart is one of the largest employers in the US. Think about how many people a single Super Walmart store employs. I would imagine that for every employee we see on the floor of one of these stores, there are at least 10 employees we don't see (those who load and unload the trucks, those who drive and maintain the trucks, and so on.) While Walmart may not offer benefits to all of its workers, it employs millions of Americans. If a Walmart closes in a community, the economic impact would be enormous.
These companies do not ship in workers from outside the community to work in their facilities. They hire local employees, use local services, and donate to local charities. My school benefits once a month from "spirit nights" put on by restaurants, some of them national chains, that provide a percentage of an evening's sales to our school. They sponsor little league teams, high school athletic teams, and much more. The people who work there are a part of the community.
These chains employ local workers. Employee hours are based on sales revenue. Boycotting a business like this doesn't, in the long run, really affect the CEOs or other bigwigs. It affects the individual restaurant and its employees. If a local restaurant closes, local citizens lose their jobs.
This is where my thoughts are hard to express.
If I manage a business like this, let's say I have 25 employees. However, if I want to offer a 40 hour work week to those employees, plus pay for benefits, I may have to cut 5 jobs in order to stay in budget, OR I can offer a 30 hour work week to all 25 of those employees. What's the tradeoff? Which is the better choice? I'm just saying that a decision like this may or may not be related to profits or evil corporate greed.
Businesses, large and small, sometimes overlook the human element in pursuit of profits. Even though I sometimes accuse my students of saying "But what if...?" too much, sometimes in situations like this, you have to ask, "But what if?"
I support local small businesses. I do prefer "mom and pop" restaurants over chain restaurants. I'm also not ashamed to patronize national chains, either, because I know that they contribute to our community and provide jobs.
Saturday, August 11, 2012
Three days of One-to-One
Wednesday, August 8 marked our first day of school. The first day of our first year as a one-to-one school. All of our students have their own laptops; those who are buying or leasing from the school have Macbook Airs, while other students have chosen to purchase their own Mac laptop of whatever variety. (Our school's tech policy is located here. It's pretty long--40+pages)
So I was expecting glitches to happen. They did. During first period on Wednesday we were supposed to walk our students through signing up for our Moodle classrooms. Moodle is a course management system. It has tons of features. We as teachers did some minor training on Moodle this spring and we are expected to use Moodle in some way for our classes. Since I teach English, I plan to use this a lot. There are so many features that, once I get used to them, will make my life easier, especially in the sense of being paperless.
But enough explanation of Moodle. As I said, we had to walk our students through signing up for Moodle. In my first hour class a couple of kids couldn't get in, so I sent them to our tech director ASAP, as he requested. Before I go any further I shall state that I have four sections of a class called "Introduction to Composition and Literature", which consists of freshmen and sophomores. Teaching freshmen is an especially challenging task. One reason is that not only are you teaching the material, but you also have to train them how to be high school students. They make mistakes and do goofy things mostly because they are just clueless about the high school environment. So teaching freshmen takes a lot more energy than teaching the older high school students. Needless to say, walking these kids through signing up for Moodle took a little longer than with older kids.
Throughout the rest of the day there were still 2-3 kids in each class who hadn't gotten set up in Moodle for a variety of reasons. On Thursday and Friday there were still some students who weren't set up BUT I think everything is under control now.
Another glitch centered around the enrollment in the Moodle classes themselves. I and my colleague are teaching these Intro to Comp classes. Somehow I could only see the freshmen participants and he could only see the sophomore participants. The problem has been solved...our tech guy started 2 new classes from scratch. On Friday I walked students through a process of moving something from the original class to the new one. I asked the students to let me know if they did not have the new link, so I could let the tech guy know...he thought he had everyone in the right place but thought there might be a mistake or two. Fifteen minutes AFTER I asked this in one class, a student raised her hand and informed me that she didn't have the new link. Arrrgh!
Another "funny" happened with my Expository Writing class, which consists of juniors and seniors. I had given them an assignment in which they researched their names and wrote a short paragraph about the meaning of their names and how it fit their personality or not. They were to submit this assignment in Moodle. One of my students raised his hand and told me that after he clicked on the link to submit the assignment, the connection timed out, all his work was lost, and he didn't feel like redoing it. My answer was simple but probably harsher than it could have been. I told him that if he wanted credit he should redo it, and that the assignment was available until 4 pm.
Things actually have been smoother than I expected. Our network seemed to be handling the extra traffic and the students have been doing well with navigating the Moodle environment. Granted, it's just been 3 days in, but I'm really excited to see what we can accomplish with this new tool.
So I was expecting glitches to happen. They did. During first period on Wednesday we were supposed to walk our students through signing up for our Moodle classrooms. Moodle is a course management system. It has tons of features. We as teachers did some minor training on Moodle this spring and we are expected to use Moodle in some way for our classes. Since I teach English, I plan to use this a lot. There are so many features that, once I get used to them, will make my life easier, especially in the sense of being paperless.
But enough explanation of Moodle. As I said, we had to walk our students through signing up for Moodle. In my first hour class a couple of kids couldn't get in, so I sent them to our tech director ASAP, as he requested. Before I go any further I shall state that I have four sections of a class called "Introduction to Composition and Literature", which consists of freshmen and sophomores. Teaching freshmen is an especially challenging task. One reason is that not only are you teaching the material, but you also have to train them how to be high school students. They make mistakes and do goofy things mostly because they are just clueless about the high school environment. So teaching freshmen takes a lot more energy than teaching the older high school students. Needless to say, walking these kids through signing up for Moodle took a little longer than with older kids.
Throughout the rest of the day there were still 2-3 kids in each class who hadn't gotten set up in Moodle for a variety of reasons. On Thursday and Friday there were still some students who weren't set up BUT I think everything is under control now.
Another glitch centered around the enrollment in the Moodle classes themselves. I and my colleague are teaching these Intro to Comp classes. Somehow I could only see the freshmen participants and he could only see the sophomore participants. The problem has been solved...our tech guy started 2 new classes from scratch. On Friday I walked students through a process of moving something from the original class to the new one. I asked the students to let me know if they did not have the new link, so I could let the tech guy know...he thought he had everyone in the right place but thought there might be a mistake or two. Fifteen minutes AFTER I asked this in one class, a student raised her hand and informed me that she didn't have the new link. Arrrgh!
Another "funny" happened with my Expository Writing class, which consists of juniors and seniors. I had given them an assignment in which they researched their names and wrote a short paragraph about the meaning of their names and how it fit their personality or not. They were to submit this assignment in Moodle. One of my students raised his hand and told me that after he clicked on the link to submit the assignment, the connection timed out, all his work was lost, and he didn't feel like redoing it. My answer was simple but probably harsher than it could have been. I told him that if he wanted credit he should redo it, and that the assignment was available until 4 pm.
Things actually have been smoother than I expected. Our network seemed to be handling the extra traffic and the students have been doing well with navigating the Moodle environment. Granted, it's just been 3 days in, but I'm really excited to see what we can accomplish with this new tool.
Sunday, August 5, 2012
Complaints of Olympic Proportion
As I wrote previously, I love the Olympics. My television has pretty much been on a channel with Olympics coverage if it's been turned on. I've watched a couple of episodes of Jeopardy, but mostly I've had the Olympics on the telly. I'm a little sad that school starts on Wednesday because I won't be able to stay up until midnight watching the coverage.
Yesterday, Oscar Pistorius of South Africa was the first double amputee to compete in the Olympics. He competed in the Paralympics in Athens, but now he's in the spotlight in the London Olympics. In the Equestrian event this morning, a 71 year-old competitor from Japan, Hiromi Hoketsu, is the oldest competitor in the Olympics. If you watch anything related to the Olympics, you will see athletes proud to perform as representatives for their countries.
However, I'm a little distressed that in light of success, someone still seems to find something to criticize. Gabby Douglas, who has 2 gold medals, has been criticized for her hair, and some feel uncomfortable with her statement of faith. When she said, "And I give all the glory to God. It's kind of a win-win situation. The glory goes up to him and the blessings fall down on me," Christians admired her and non-Christians reviled her. You can see her response to the hair controversy over on USA Today's Olympics page. (Image Source)
Additionally, on Fox News, the USA gymnastics team (and US fans) apparently aren't patriotic enough. The hot pink and purple leotards worn by the USA women's team don't show enough USA spirit. Not enough USA fans are chanting "U-S-A, U-S-A, U-S-A".
There will always be controversy surrounding the Olympics. This Olympics isn't without it. This year, 8 athletes were disqualified from the badminton competition because they deliberately threw matches in order to get an advantage in the next round. Yet we're outraged that the US athletes aren't patriotic enough or that a young girl boldly states her faith.
I guess I'm enough of a Polyanna that I enjoy the Olympics for the competition and the overall pride in my country. I'm amazed and inspired by the hard work and dedication it requires to become an Olympic-level athlete. I said in another blog entry that I like being able to be see sports I've only heard of (this morning I watched some water polo). I enjoy watching just to watch. If the US wins, they win. If they don't, they don't. It disappoints me to watch our team lose, but I don't live or die by it. If an athlete wants to express her gratitude to God, to her parents, or to her imaginary friend, let her do it. If the uniforms aren't in-your-face patriotic, so what. It doesn't change the fact that these athletes have worked hard to get to this level. Have you worked as hard as they do to achieve what you've achieved?
Yesterday, Oscar Pistorius of South Africa was the first double amputee to compete in the Olympics. He competed in the Paralympics in Athens, but now he's in the spotlight in the London Olympics. In the Equestrian event this morning, a 71 year-old competitor from Japan, Hiromi Hoketsu, is the oldest competitor in the Olympics. If you watch anything related to the Olympics, you will see athletes proud to perform as representatives for their countries.
Additionally, on Fox News, the USA gymnastics team (and US fans) apparently aren't patriotic enough. The hot pink and purple leotards worn by the USA women's team don't show enough USA spirit. Not enough USA fans are chanting "U-S-A, U-S-A, U-S-A".
There will always be controversy surrounding the Olympics. This Olympics isn't without it. This year, 8 athletes were disqualified from the badminton competition because they deliberately threw matches in order to get an advantage in the next round. Yet we're outraged that the US athletes aren't patriotic enough or that a young girl boldly states her faith.
I guess I'm enough of a Polyanna that I enjoy the Olympics for the competition and the overall pride in my country. I'm amazed and inspired by the hard work and dedication it requires to become an Olympic-level athlete. I said in another blog entry that I like being able to be see sports I've only heard of (this morning I watched some water polo). I enjoy watching just to watch. If the US wins, they win. If they don't, they don't. It disappoints me to watch our team lose, but I don't live or die by it. If an athlete wants to express her gratitude to God, to her parents, or to her imaginary friend, let her do it. If the uniforms aren't in-your-face patriotic, so what. It doesn't change the fact that these athletes have worked hard to get to this level. Have you worked as hard as they do to achieve what you've achieved?
Tuesday, July 31, 2012
Die Olympischen Spiele
I love the Olympics. I just love them.
First of all, with today's technology, one can watch some sort of athletic competition all. the. time. You pick what you want to watch, find it on the Internet, cable, or wherever, and watch world-class athletes putting out their best performances. You can see how proud all of the athletes, coaches, and fans are. You can appreciate the hours of practice and sacrifice that they have made to be a part of this great event. As someone whose main participation in athletics is as a spectator, I admire the work and dedication it takes to be an elite athlete. I personally don't think that, even if I had the skill, that I'd have the perservereance to be at that level. Truly, I'm not sure I'd have that level of dedication to be elite in anything I have reasonable skill in.
Secondly, I just like the international nature of the Olympics. In the US, if you are a sports fan, most of the competition you see is against other Americans. I teach high school, and attend a lot of sporting events. Rarely do our athletes compete against people from a different city, let alone a different state. It's even my understanding that the Indiana High School Athletic Association has rules about how far a team can travel to compete.
The reason I like the international nature of the Olympics is that we get to see that for the most part, people are people and very little truly separates us. I was watching the USA men's volleyball team compete against Germany today, live streamed on my iPad. There was no commentary, just the game. At time outs, the camera focused on both coaches. At one point, the German coach told his team, "It's simple. You just need to talk to each other!" (Well, he said it in German...) I have been to my share of volleyball games, and I think that I have heard every single coach say that to his or her team at least once in a match. It really made me chuckle.
I also especially enjoy being able to learn about sports that aren't in the mainstream. While the marquee sports of the Summer Olympics are gymnastics, swimming, and track and field, I've had a chance to see some others that I might not even get a chance to see. Sunday I watched a little bit of the USA Women's Field Hockey match. It was really interesting. Who knows, maybe some young athlete out there will be inspired to try some kind of competition they'd never heard of before.
On a slightly lighter note, I'm also generally intrigued buy the uniforms of all of the athletes. Not only do I enjoy watching the competition, but I rate the attractiveness of the uniforms. I guess I'm just a girl that way.
Finally, and it should be no surprise, I just love seeing the American patriotism that it brings about. Especially in light of recent years when it seems like we are the Divided States of America rather than the United States of America. No matter what your political or philosophical leanings are, I think most Americans would agree that they love to support our American athletes. To hear the chants of "U-S-A, U-S-A" helps me to believe that there's hope for our nation. Maybe.
First of all, with today's technology, one can watch some sort of athletic competition all. the. time. You pick what you want to watch, find it on the Internet, cable, or wherever, and watch world-class athletes putting out their best performances. You can see how proud all of the athletes, coaches, and fans are. You can appreciate the hours of practice and sacrifice that they have made to be a part of this great event. As someone whose main participation in athletics is as a spectator, I admire the work and dedication it takes to be an elite athlete. I personally don't think that, even if I had the skill, that I'd have the perservereance to be at that level. Truly, I'm not sure I'd have that level of dedication to be elite in anything I have reasonable skill in.
Secondly, I just like the international nature of the Olympics. In the US, if you are a sports fan, most of the competition you see is against other Americans. I teach high school, and attend a lot of sporting events. Rarely do our athletes compete against people from a different city, let alone a different state. It's even my understanding that the Indiana High School Athletic Association has rules about how far a team can travel to compete.
The reason I like the international nature of the Olympics is that we get to see that for the most part, people are people and very little truly separates us. I was watching the USA men's volleyball team compete against Germany today, live streamed on my iPad. There was no commentary, just the game. At time outs, the camera focused on both coaches. At one point, the German coach told his team, "It's simple. You just need to talk to each other!" (Well, he said it in German...) I have been to my share of volleyball games, and I think that I have heard every single coach say that to his or her team at least once in a match. It really made me chuckle.
I also especially enjoy being able to learn about sports that aren't in the mainstream. While the marquee sports of the Summer Olympics are gymnastics, swimming, and track and field, I've had a chance to see some others that I might not even get a chance to see. Sunday I watched a little bit of the USA Women's Field Hockey match. It was really interesting. Who knows, maybe some young athlete out there will be inspired to try some kind of competition they'd never heard of before.
On a slightly lighter note, I'm also generally intrigued buy the uniforms of all of the athletes. Not only do I enjoy watching the competition, but I rate the attractiveness of the uniforms. I guess I'm just a girl that way.
Finally, and it should be no surprise, I just love seeing the American patriotism that it brings about. Especially in light of recent years when it seems like we are the Divided States of America rather than the United States of America. No matter what your political or philosophical leanings are, I think most Americans would agree that they love to support our American athletes. To hear the chants of "U-S-A, U-S-A" helps me to believe that there's hope for our nation. Maybe.
Saturday, June 30, 2012
Repurposing
I have been sucked into Pinterest this summer. I've pinned recipes, craft ideas, health and beauty tips, and more. One of the main kinds of pins I've enjoyed are the craft and DIY ideas that repurpose things. It's inspired me to try to find some things to repurpose, and actually to repurpose something I've been meaning to do for a while.
I love Partylite candles. A few years ago I bought a wall sconce for their Slim Hurricane jar candles. I like jar candles because you can use them without special candle holders or you can put special decorations (shades, etc) on them. This is what it looks like:
Anyway, I never considered that Partylite would discontinue the candle. I knew they'd discontinue the sconce, because they do that kind of thing. I was a Premier Designs jeweler for a while, and replacing things is just part of the business. People want new things.
So last summer, I burned the last of my slim hurricane candles. I don't burn candles a lot. I think I had purchased a total of 2 of the candles. I saved the glass jar because, well, it felt wasteful not to. I was using the one as a coin jar. But then I found out that my Partylite consultant used hers as drinking glasses, so when the 2nd burned away, I found a new coin receptacle and used the 2 slim hurricanes for drinking glasses. When I had my annual Partylite party, I thought I'd be able to order another slim hurricane, but NO! I discovered they were discontinued.
I tried to fit a pillar candle in it, which it did, but I didn't like how it looked. I didn't want to get rid of the sconce, so I sought the advice of my consultant. She suggested that I could fill in the glass with something and then put a tea light or votive candle in it.
After pondering, I went to the dollar store. Initially I thought I would use glass marbles or glass decorative pieces, but then I found some craft stones, river stones. They were shades of brown, cream, and gray. The colors blended with what I have in my living room! And they cost just $1. I had a glass votive holder. I filled the slim hurricane glass about halfway full with the stones, put in the votive holder, and then put stones around the votive holder. Then I added the votive candle, and voila! My slim hurricane sconce is serviceable again!
Here's the final result! I think it looks pretty attractive, and I was able to repurpose something economically!
Anyway, I never considered that Partylite would discontinue the candle. I knew they'd discontinue the sconce, because they do that kind of thing. I was a Premier Designs jeweler for a while, and replacing things is just part of the business. People want new things.
So last summer, I burned the last of my slim hurricane candles. I don't burn candles a lot. I think I had purchased a total of 2 of the candles. I saved the glass jar because, well, it felt wasteful not to. I was using the one as a coin jar. But then I found out that my Partylite consultant used hers as drinking glasses, so when the 2nd burned away, I found a new coin receptacle and used the 2 slim hurricanes for drinking glasses. When I had my annual Partylite party, I thought I'd be able to order another slim hurricane, but NO! I discovered they were discontinued.
I tried to fit a pillar candle in it, which it did, but I didn't like how it looked. I didn't want to get rid of the sconce, so I sought the advice of my consultant. She suggested that I could fill in the glass with something and then put a tea light or votive candle in it.
After pondering, I went to the dollar store. Initially I thought I would use glass marbles or glass decorative pieces, but then I found some craft stones, river stones. They were shades of brown, cream, and gray. The colors blended with what I have in my living room! And they cost just $1. I had a glass votive holder. I filled the slim hurricane glass about halfway full with the stones, put in the votive holder, and then put stones around the votive holder. Then I added the votive candle, and voila! My slim hurricane sconce is serviceable again!
Wednesday, June 20, 2012
Guilty Pleasures
Summertime has been, for me, a time that I indulge some of my guilty pleasures, and develop new ones.
My biggest guilty pleasure is sleeping. I do my best to keep my wake-up time around 9:00 or 9:30 in the mornings during the summer. Joining things like a Bible study that starts in the morning, going to water fitness class during the day helps. But sometimes I just stay up late and sleep in late. I've also tended to take naps in the afternoon. If I've had a particularly energetic workout in water fitness, or if I've done some yard work, I'll take a nap in the afternoon.
My other indulgence is too much TV. I take the chance to catch up on series I've missed, and also to experience new ones. The latest guilty pleasure I've discovered is the new Dallas. I remember the original Dallas--my parents watched it faithfully every week. I was just as interested in "Who Shot JR?" as anyone. I thought that Bobby Ewing's "death" being all a dream was just as ridiculous as everyone else did.
The latest incarnation of Dallas is just as good, or should I say bad, as the original. It's campy, it's ludicrous, it's simply ridiculous! Just like in the original series, everyone is going behind everyone else's back. As a viewer, I am wondering why everyone trusts each other, or why they even have any kind of relationship at all. Why any of these people interact with the outside world is beyond me. Seriously...why would anyone really believe that JR Ewing is out to serve anyone but himself? Yet for some reason, the very people he's screwed in the past give him chance after chance. I suppose that's what makes for good TV.
I will keep my Wednesday nights open for Dallas. This week, I forgot to catch the first showing of it at 9:00, so I had to wait until TNT replayed the episode at 11:00. Which means I had to stay up later...and try not to sleep in too late!
My biggest guilty pleasure is sleeping. I do my best to keep my wake-up time around 9:00 or 9:30 in the mornings during the summer. Joining things like a Bible study that starts in the morning, going to water fitness class during the day helps. But sometimes I just stay up late and sleep in late. I've also tended to take naps in the afternoon. If I've had a particularly energetic workout in water fitness, or if I've done some yard work, I'll take a nap in the afternoon.
My other indulgence is too much TV. I take the chance to catch up on series I've missed, and also to experience new ones. The latest guilty pleasure I've discovered is the new Dallas. I remember the original Dallas--my parents watched it faithfully every week. I was just as interested in "Who Shot JR?" as anyone. I thought that Bobby Ewing's "death" being all a dream was just as ridiculous as everyone else did.
The latest incarnation of Dallas is just as good, or should I say bad, as the original. It's campy, it's ludicrous, it's simply ridiculous! Just like in the original series, everyone is going behind everyone else's back. As a viewer, I am wondering why everyone trusts each other, or why they even have any kind of relationship at all. Why any of these people interact with the outside world is beyond me. Seriously...why would anyone really believe that JR Ewing is out to serve anyone but himself? Yet for some reason, the very people he's screwed in the past give him chance after chance. I suppose that's what makes for good TV.
I will keep my Wednesday nights open for Dallas. This week, I forgot to catch the first showing of it at 9:00, so I had to wait until TNT replayed the episode at 11:00. Which means I had to stay up later...and try not to sleep in too late!
Thursday, June 14, 2012
Mmmmm...Pancakes!
Honestly I don't know what my food kick is lately. I guess because during the summer I have a chance to think about what I cook more, and then I can actually cook more.
Summer mornings are my favorite. I use the term "morning" loosely, because sometimes I wake up late. But what I like about summer mornings is that there's not a deadline for leaving the house. I can take my own time and go through my routine without worrying that I'm running late.
So often I make a fairly complicated breakfast. On a normal school day, I will have cereal, oatmeal, a bagel, or a microwaveable breakfast sandwich. Something that doesn't take a lot of time or thought. However, I loooove pancakes. Freshly made ones. Frozen pancakes and waffles are OK, but they just aren't the same as those you make fresh.
So. I was trolling through Pinterest and I found this recipe for fried apple pancake rings. Now, I'm not one for complicated usually, so I read the recipe and decided to do it my own way. I do that a lot.
The recipe calls for using regular pancake mix as the batter. No biggie. Whenever I make pancakes, I actually substitute some of the pancake mix with oatmeal. The brand I use calls for 2 cups of the pancake mix, so I use 1 1/2 cups of the mix and 1/2 cup of oatmeal. Oatmeal makes things healthier, right? Oh, and the recipe calls for something like 1 tablespoon of white sugar, and I use brown sugar instead.
Since I just cook for myself, I used one apple for the batch I made today. I decided just to make pancakes rather than the rings, so I simply sliced the apple. Then I tossed it with a little cinnamon sugar and microwaved it for about 1 minute to get the cooking started. Then, I made the pancakes: poured the batter in the pan, added some of the apple slices, and then cooked the cakes through, flipping when bubbles appear. (I should also point out that I usually cook up about half the pancake mix one morning and then save the rest to cook on another day. I'll add a small splash of milk to the leftover batter to loosen it up). I get the "vanilla spice" or "cinnamon spice" pancake syrup variety from my local grocery store's brand.
Definitely a successful breakfast! Frequently I will do a pancake breakfast on a Saturday morning and try to make leftover pancakes so I can eat them for breakfast later in the week. I will certainly do the apple pancake recipe again!
Summer mornings are my favorite. I use the term "morning" loosely, because sometimes I wake up late. But what I like about summer mornings is that there's not a deadline for leaving the house. I can take my own time and go through my routine without worrying that I'm running late.
So often I make a fairly complicated breakfast. On a normal school day, I will have cereal, oatmeal, a bagel, or a microwaveable breakfast sandwich. Something that doesn't take a lot of time or thought. However, I loooove pancakes. Freshly made ones. Frozen pancakes and waffles are OK, but they just aren't the same as those you make fresh.
The recipe calls for using regular pancake mix as the batter. No biggie. Whenever I make pancakes, I actually substitute some of the pancake mix with oatmeal. The brand I use calls for 2 cups of the pancake mix, so I use 1 1/2 cups of the mix and 1/2 cup of oatmeal. Oatmeal makes things healthier, right? Oh, and the recipe calls for something like 1 tablespoon of white sugar, and I use brown sugar instead.
Since I just cook for myself, I used one apple for the batch I made today. I decided just to make pancakes rather than the rings, so I simply sliced the apple. Then I tossed it with a little cinnamon sugar and microwaved it for about 1 minute to get the cooking started. Then, I made the pancakes: poured the batter in the pan, added some of the apple slices, and then cooked the cakes through, flipping when bubbles appear. (I should also point out that I usually cook up about half the pancake mix one morning and then save the rest to cook on another day. I'll add a small splash of milk to the leftover batter to loosen it up). I get the "vanilla spice" or "cinnamon spice" pancake syrup variety from my local grocery store's brand.
Definitely a successful breakfast! Frequently I will do a pancake breakfast on a Saturday morning and try to make leftover pancakes so I can eat them for breakfast later in the week. I will certainly do the apple pancake recipe again!
Monday, June 11, 2012
Food Musings
When you're a frazzled teacher, sometimes the last thing you want to do after coming home from school is cook. But eating at restaurants, fast food or otherwise is not only expensive but not that great for your diet. I am trying my best to develop healthy eating habits and save money. I also really like to cook, so it's also a nice stress reliever for me to cook.
I've found that I like to have a couple of "go-to" dishes to fix. These are dishes that are not only tasty to me but also simple to make. I try to keep the ingredients for these dishes on hand (I stock up when the grocery stores do their 10 for $10 sales) so that I don't have to stop by the store on the way home.
Here are the ingredients I always try to keep...
So here are 2 of my favorite go-to dishes. I'm not giving any measurements or amounts, just a general idea for cooking.
The first is a pasta dish. I cook whatever pasta I have on hand with chicken broth. I personally like the tri-colored rotini. While the pasta is cooking, I sauté some mushrooms in olive oil or butter, cook up some frozen broccoli, and maybe some other vegetables. Sometimes I will grill a couple of chicken tenderloins on my George Foreman grill. Drain the pasta, add the vegetables and chicken. Add parmesan cheese to taste and enjoy.
The second is an "all-purpose" nacho/taco/burrito/whatever filling. I got the idea from this from a cooking show...the celebrity cook was making baked taquitos. First, sauté some onions in oil with chili powder. Add frozen corn after the onions start to get soft. Then, add precooked chicken. I have used leftover rotisserie chicken from the grocery store, canned chicken, and even pre-grilled some chicken tenderloins. I honestly like using the canned chicken because it shreds up better, but you want to make sure you drain off the liquid if you use canned. You want the chicken to have a shredded consistency. Add salsa and cook until the liquid reduces. I have also added rice to this. Usually I either top it with shredded cheese and eat with tortilla chips or fill tortillas with it and cheese. Add any other garnishes you like, sour cream, guacamole, fresh vegetables, etc.
I have become addicted to Pinterest and have seen a lot of great cooking ideas on there. My "Foodliness" board is right here.
I've found that I like to have a couple of "go-to" dishes to fix. These are dishes that are not only tasty to me but also simple to make. I try to keep the ingredients for these dishes on hand (I stock up when the grocery stores do their 10 for $10 sales) so that I don't have to stop by the store on the way home.
Here are the ingredients I always try to keep...
- Frozen vegetables, corn, green beans, broccoli, carrots, chopped onions. You can add these to almost anything to not only up the nutrition but also it just adds more substance to the meal. My local grocery stores generally do theirs on a 10 for $10 special at least once a month.
- Salsa. You can add it to anything to add a serving of veggies.
- Chicken broth or bouillon cubes. I prefer the broth but if I run out I use a bouillon cube. Adds flavor to pasta if you cook the pasta with it.
- Flour tortillas
- Tortilla chips
- Prepackaged pasta-and-sauce or rice-and-sauce. You can add chicken and vegetables to them and have a fairly healthy meal.
- Frozen chicken breast tenderloins
- Canned chicken
So here are 2 of my favorite go-to dishes. I'm not giving any measurements or amounts, just a general idea for cooking.
The first is a pasta dish. I cook whatever pasta I have on hand with chicken broth. I personally like the tri-colored rotini. While the pasta is cooking, I sauté some mushrooms in olive oil or butter, cook up some frozen broccoli, and maybe some other vegetables. Sometimes I will grill a couple of chicken tenderloins on my George Foreman grill. Drain the pasta, add the vegetables and chicken. Add parmesan cheese to taste and enjoy.
The second is an "all-purpose" nacho/taco/burrito/whatever filling. I got the idea from this from a cooking show...the celebrity cook was making baked taquitos. First, sauté some onions in oil with chili powder. Add frozen corn after the onions start to get soft. Then, add precooked chicken. I have used leftover rotisserie chicken from the grocery store, canned chicken, and even pre-grilled some chicken tenderloins. I honestly like using the canned chicken because it shreds up better, but you want to make sure you drain off the liquid if you use canned. You want the chicken to have a shredded consistency. Add salsa and cook until the liquid reduces. I have also added rice to this. Usually I either top it with shredded cheese and eat with tortilla chips or fill tortillas with it and cheese. Add any other garnishes you like, sour cream, guacamole, fresh vegetables, etc.
I have become addicted to Pinterest and have seen a lot of great cooking ideas on there. My "Foodliness" board is right here.
Thursday, June 7, 2012
Summer, summer, summertime!
One thing is certain, I think I was meant to be a teacher. Ever since I had any concept of "what I wanted to be when I grew up" I wanted to be a teacher. I would go with my mom willingly during the summer when she would work at school. The main purpose was so I could write on the chalkboard. I'd get upset if there wasn't any chalk available! (The irony is that now, as a teacher, I HATE using the chalkboard..I'd love to have a dry erase board in my room rather than a chalkboard.)
As I was thinking about my summer break, I realized that teaching is truly an ideal profession in many ways. It's not without its frustrations and irritations, but it really is ideal.
The main reason, for me, is that I can't think of any other profession in which you can start completely over every year. In the upcoming school year, I will be teaching courses I have taught before. But the thing is, not only do I get an entirely new crop of students to work with, I also can revamp and redo what didn't work the last time I taught the course. I have wracked my brain and I can't think of another profession that allows that "redo" option every single year. I can go back to the unit plans I made for novels, plays, and writing projects and enhance them, basically getting a "second chance" on them. I can even trash the entire plan and start from scratch!
This year I gave myself this opportunity without even knowing it. I taught 4 sections of freshmen and sophomores in English. I had a total of 112 students in these four sections. English classes mean writing projects. The major project of second semester was their biographical research paper. The thought of grading 112 research papers was daunting to say the least. It also would have been a nearly endless process. I'll go out on a limb and do some math here. A "good" paper (one with few errors) may take around 5 minutes to evaluate. On average, I'd say it takes around 8 minutes to evaluate a research paper effectively. So...8 minutes per paper multiplied by 112: 896 minutes. That's 14.9 hours of grading...IF each paper ONLY takes 8 minutes. Considering that I have to teach from 8-3:15 5 days a week, plan my lessons, do personal errands and tasks, and find personal time AND sleep, I probably would get through those papers in 4 weeks, if I'm super efficient and don't do anything else.
Have I mentioned that I hate grading papers and I procrastinate grading? The reality is that I'd take longer than 4 weeks with 112 research papers, not because of how long it takes to grade, but because I would procrastinate.
Well, I decided that I would split those 4 sections and do the research paper with 2 of them and a literature unit with the other 2. 50-ish papers is a lot easier to get through, the pile is a lot less daunting, and I like the planning aspect of teaching better than the grading. Then, the classes who did the research paper would do the lit unit, and the other would do the research paper.
Little did I know that not only would this be good on the grading end, but also on the planning end. As I was teaching the research unit to the 2 classes, and then when I started grading their papers, I noticed things that I could have done better...and I had the chance to fix that RIGHT AWAY! The papers I got from the second group of students were noticeably better than the first set. (Likewise I was able to make similar changes to the literature unit..I noticed things that the students didn't understand as well and I was able to explain elements differently.)
I decided after this that the remaining writing units I would split in that way. Not only did it decrease the paper load, but it also enabled me to immediately improve on what I had just taught.
Are there other professions that offer this kind of opportunity? To start (from scratch if needed) over on a regular basis?
As I was thinking about my summer break, I realized that teaching is truly an ideal profession in many ways. It's not without its frustrations and irritations, but it really is ideal.
The main reason, for me, is that I can't think of any other profession in which you can start completely over every year. In the upcoming school year, I will be teaching courses I have taught before. But the thing is, not only do I get an entirely new crop of students to work with, I also can revamp and redo what didn't work the last time I taught the course. I have wracked my brain and I can't think of another profession that allows that "redo" option every single year. I can go back to the unit plans I made for novels, plays, and writing projects and enhance them, basically getting a "second chance" on them. I can even trash the entire plan and start from scratch!
This year I gave myself this opportunity without even knowing it. I taught 4 sections of freshmen and sophomores in English. I had a total of 112 students in these four sections. English classes mean writing projects. The major project of second semester was their biographical research paper. The thought of grading 112 research papers was daunting to say the least. It also would have been a nearly endless process. I'll go out on a limb and do some math here. A "good" paper (one with few errors) may take around 5 minutes to evaluate. On average, I'd say it takes around 8 minutes to evaluate a research paper effectively. So...8 minutes per paper multiplied by 112: 896 minutes. That's 14.9 hours of grading...IF each paper ONLY takes 8 minutes. Considering that I have to teach from 8-3:15 5 days a week, plan my lessons, do personal errands and tasks, and find personal time AND sleep, I probably would get through those papers in 4 weeks, if I'm super efficient and don't do anything else.
Have I mentioned that I hate grading papers and I procrastinate grading? The reality is that I'd take longer than 4 weeks with 112 research papers, not because of how long it takes to grade, but because I would procrastinate.
Well, I decided that I would split those 4 sections and do the research paper with 2 of them and a literature unit with the other 2. 50-ish papers is a lot easier to get through, the pile is a lot less daunting, and I like the planning aspect of teaching better than the grading. Then, the classes who did the research paper would do the lit unit, and the other would do the research paper.
Little did I know that not only would this be good on the grading end, but also on the planning end. As I was teaching the research unit to the 2 classes, and then when I started grading their papers, I noticed things that I could have done better...and I had the chance to fix that RIGHT AWAY! The papers I got from the second group of students were noticeably better than the first set. (Likewise I was able to make similar changes to the literature unit..I noticed things that the students didn't understand as well and I was able to explain elements differently.)
I decided after this that the remaining writing units I would split in that way. Not only did it decrease the paper load, but it also enabled me to immediately improve on what I had just taught.
Are there other professions that offer this kind of opportunity? To start (from scratch if needed) over on a regular basis?
Thursday, May 31, 2012
Beginning of Summer Craftiness
Since my blog is called "Reflections of a Frazzled Teacher", it makes sense that I haven't posted something in a long while. School this year was overwhelming. I had a lot more students, was dealing with some new technology initiatives, and in general I was working a lot harder than I had in a long while. This spring, I was in charge of our Academic Super Bowl Team (competition in April), and as Junior class adviser I had prom to organize (also in April). AND to top it off I agreed to be one of the grandparents in our school's production of Willy Wonka (show was the first weekend in May). Needless to say my April was very, very busy. However, all of the extras I was involved with were well worth it, and more.
All that leads up to the picture I'm posting. I'm not ordinarily a crafty person. I enjoy scrapbooking, I know how to sew, and I have done a lot of other kinds of crafts.
This year, for teacher appreciation week, the parent group gave us a lot of gifts. Among these gifts were some of those reusable insulated tumblers. One of them (not pictured) was from a company, with a company logo on it. The other was a colored (mine was orange) tumbler. I also had purchased, from Goodwill, a similar tumbler that I later noticed was cracked. I bought this tumbler sometime in January or February.
Well, the Goodwill tumbler was perfectly usable, but unattractive because it was cracked. I presume that's the reason it was donated to Goodwill.
So I decided to go to the craft store (or maybe it was the scrapbooking section at Walmart) and buy some stickers to cover up the crafts and perk up the clear tumbler. Since all of the teachers at my school received tumblers, I decided to perk those up too. A little nail polish remover took care of the corporate logo, although it roughed up the shiny plastic slightly.
Anyway, pictured here are the results of my endeavors. If you try this yourself, make sure that you get stickers that are NOT paper-based. You'll want plastic ones for it to be successful.
All that leads up to the picture I'm posting. I'm not ordinarily a crafty person. I enjoy scrapbooking, I know how to sew, and I have done a lot of other kinds of crafts.
This year, for teacher appreciation week, the parent group gave us a lot of gifts. Among these gifts were some of those reusable insulated tumblers. One of them (not pictured) was from a company, with a company logo on it. The other was a colored (mine was orange) tumbler. I also had purchased, from Goodwill, a similar tumbler that I later noticed was cracked. I bought this tumbler sometime in January or February.
Well, the Goodwill tumbler was perfectly usable, but unattractive because it was cracked. I presume that's the reason it was donated to Goodwill.
So I decided to go to the craft store (or maybe it was the scrapbooking section at Walmart) and buy some stickers to cover up the crafts and perk up the clear tumbler. Since all of the teachers at my school received tumblers, I decided to perk those up too. A little nail polish remover took care of the corporate logo, although it roughed up the shiny plastic slightly.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)